I'm in an interesting position because I just negotiated a raise, and am also negotiating with candidates for an upcoming hire.
I earned my raise by first earning it in effort, but when it came time for the negotiation I know without a doubt that if I hadn't made it clear I was willing to walk away, I wouldn't have received the raise. The boss thought he could appease me with talks on potential numbers, but I stood my ground and said that I needed an answer within 24 hours. It wasn't until I, politely of course, demanded a yes or no that I received a yes.
Now, in the hiring process, I have a limited amount of money available to pay a new employee. I may be able to get another 10%, but not much more than that. I do ask candidates to offer a number, not to screw them on salary but to know how apart we are. If we're 20k apart, why should I waste their time stringing them along?
If getting the potential employee to offer a number is genuinely, purely in the interest of not stringing them along, why don't you offer the first number? "This is the salary allocated for the position. Is this a salary you would be comfortable with?"
Now you have a way to both not string them along if you're $20K apart and to not let them accidentally undervalue their own worth by a significant amount.
I earned my raise by first earning it in effort, but when it came time for the negotiation I know without a doubt that if I hadn't made it clear I was willing to walk away, I wouldn't have received the raise. The boss thought he could appease me with talks on potential numbers, but I stood my ground and said that I needed an answer within 24 hours. It wasn't until I, politely of course, demanded a yes or no that I received a yes.
Now, in the hiring process, I have a limited amount of money available to pay a new employee. I may be able to get another 10%, but not much more than that. I do ask candidates to offer a number, not to screw them on salary but to know how apart we are. If we're 20k apart, why should I waste their time stringing them along?